Monday, March 12, 2012

Polishing Silver... Without the Polish

Easter is just a few weeks away, and for those of you hosting, now is the time to start going through your lists of things to do before having guests.
I know for me, this is when I pull out my silver serving pieces and get polishin'.
But there's no need to run to the store and spend money on some chemical-filled, stinky silver polish...
A trip to your medicine cabinet will work just fine!
Here are my silver salt & pepper shakers pre-polish:

All you need is a soft rag (I just use a rag cut up from an old t-shirt - the soft cotton jersey is perfect)
and a tube of toothpaste.
Did you catch that?
Regular, white (not a gel) toothpaste!

It only takes a small amount of toothpaste, and a small
amount of elbow grease - wipe on, rub, wipe off.

Seriously, that's it!
This is my favorite method for keeping the silver looking its best.
And I will totally take a minty-fresh smell while I work, vs. stinky silver polish! :)

What a great tip!! Who would have guessed? I'd love for you to share this (and anything else you want) at my link party. It runs Tues-Sat. http://adventuresofadiymom.blogspot.com/2012/03/terrific-tuesday-6.htmlRachel

I have a sweet little starfish necklace that I bought at the beach a couple years ago, and it's perfect when I want to wear something demure. (Usually I prefer chunky, colorful necklaces.) I haven't worn it in a while because it's gotten tarnished, and I hadn't done anything about researching how to clean it. So glad I happened upon your post. We'll see if toothpaste does the trick!

DON'T USE THIS METHOD, it will harm your silver by scratching! I'm a professional silver restoration, conservation, and preservationist. For the most thoroughly researched and practiced silver care information on the Web, visit my Silver Care page at http://www.hermansilver.com/care.htm.